Closure for drainage pouch



United States Patent Inventor John L. Nolan Glenview, Illinois Appl. No. 628,672

Filed April 5, 1967 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 Assignee llollister Incorporated a Corp. of Illinois CLOSURE FOR DRAINAGE POUCH 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[1.8. CI 128/283, 24/248 Int. Cl A6lf5/44 Field of Search 128/275, 283, 295; 24/30.5, 248, 248.2, 248HC, HES, L, GC, SL

1,186,656 1,459,735 l,755,7 l 8 2,496,175 2,818,069 2,920,368 3,266,71 l 3,292,625

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/l9l6 6/l923 4/1930 1/1950 12/1957 1/1960 8/l966 l2/l966 Fridolph Kraft Wagener Perry Fenton Hackl.

Song Marsan Primary Examiner Charles F. Rosenbaum Attorney-l-lofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman and McCord ABSTRACT: A closure means for a post surgical drainage pouch of the type which is held on the abdomen of a patient and has a normally open end so that excrement may be discharged therethrough, the closure means comprising a twopart clasp which pinches the open end of the pouch together to seal the same against unintended discharge.

Patented Aug. 11, 1970 3,523,534

36 2a Ira/e rrm JZhwllfYoZam CLOSURE FOR DRAINAGE POUCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION bottoms or ends and are intended to be removed from the body and disposed of when containing discharge. Other pouches have open ends so that discharge may be periodically released through the open end without removing the bag or pouch from the body. It is possible-that in between periods of intended discharge, there may be unintended discharge. This presents problems with the open end type pouch in that the user may be unaware of the unintended discharge with the result that an undesired mess is created. In addition, it may be desirable for the user who is ambulatory to be able to have a facile means for opening and closing the bottom end of the drainage pouch to' release discharge on selected visits to washroom facilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of a releasable closure means for sealing the normally open end of a drainage pouch held on the body of a patient to permit selective discharge out the bottom of the pouch when desired and to prevent unintended discharge or retain intermediate discharge within the pouch until such time as intended to dispose of the same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE l is a fragmentary view of the abdominal section of the human torso showing a post surgical drainage pouch in use;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged broken view of a post surgical drainage pouch having a normally open end showing the clo' sure means of this invention in use therewith;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;-

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary enlarged section view taken generally along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view showing the closure means opened to permit release of the lower captivated end of the drainage pouch;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the hinge end of the closure means;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the latch end of the closure means; and

FIGURE 8 is a view showing the relationship of the components of the latch end of the closure means prior to latching securement thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGURE l there is shown a post surgical drainage pouch or ileostomy device 10 secured to a torso 11 by means ofa belt 12. Generally belt 12 is made of elastic material so it may snugly conform to the body of most patients.

The drainage pouch 10 is a bag-like article of flexible material, such as a clear, soft plastic or the like, and includes a front and back panel 18 and 19, respectively, and may be formed by sealing the two panels together at the top 20 and at the sides 20a and 20b. The pouch is open at the bottom 20c so that discharge may pass through the open end of the pouch and drop into an appropriate receptacle without the necessity for removing the pouch from the body of a patient.

The back panel of the pouch is typically provided with a centrally disposed stoma opening 21 near the top thereof for positioning over an opening in the abdominal wall of a patient. A backing member 24 made of a material more rigid than the pouch, such as a suitable plastic or the like, is affixed, preferably by heat sealing, to the rear of the pouch in the area of the stoma opening. Backing member 24 is provided with an opening 28 for loosely embracing the stoma of a patient in a non-irritating fashion. The outer periphery of the backing member is formed with integral laterally projecting ears 29 and 30, each of which has an enlarged opening 31 and 32, respectively, which terminates in a reduced portion 31a and 32a, respectively, for receiving the post portions 33a and 33b provided at the opposite ends of the belt 12, such as disclosed in Marsan patent No. 3,292,625. As described therein, the posts may be inserted through the enlarged portions of the openings in the ears, and then, as the belt moves laterally, the reduced neck portion may be caught in a smaller diameter portion 31a and 32a of the ears to fasten the belt to the backing member and secure the pouch about the body of a patient.

This invention is directed to the provision of a means 36 for sealing the normally open end of a drainage pouch against unintended discharge, the means being releasable for selective discharge when desired, and resealable thereafter. In general, means 36 includes a first or seat member 38 and a second or wedge member 40 movably related to each other, one of which is provided with a seating surface, and the other of which is provided with a wedging surface for captivatingthe lower end of the pouch between the wedging and seating surfaces and closing the pouch thereby. In addition, the two members are provided with mutually engageable latch ele ments for holding them together in a wedging or clamping position.

In the illustrated embodiment, the seat member 38 includes a generally U-shaped trough 42 which has a pair of closely spaced apart side walls 42a and 42b joined by a bottom portion 42c. One end of the top of the trough 42 is joined with a pin or pintle element 44 which spans the area between walls 42a and 42b, and the opposite end has a protruding latch element or abutment 46 which similarly spans the area between the walls. Preferably, the seat member 38 is slightly arcuate in plan as seen in FIGURE 3.

Wedge member 40 includes a blade-like body 48 which is generally narrow in cross section, only slightly narrower than the width of the trough 42, as best seen in FIGURE 4, and is also slightly arcuate in plan to conform with the trough, as best seen in FIGURE 3. One end of the body 48 is provided with a hinge portion 50 which comprises a C-shaped notch with an opening slightly smaller than the size of pintle 44 so that the pintle and notch may be connected in a hinge-like relationship by snapping the pintle into the notch. The other end of the blade is provided with a latch finger 52 including a cam surface 52a and a shoulder 52b behind the cam surface 52a, the shoulder being of a size to generally abut the latch element 46 as best seen in FIGURE 7.

The difference in dimension between the thickness of blade 48 and the interior width of the trough 42 should be sufficient to compress the faces of the plastic bag with which the closure is to be used into tight sealing engagement. In the preferred embodiment, the open end of the bag would be wrapped around the blade so that the previously described dimensional differences would be less than the thickness of four plies of the material used to make the pouch 20. However, it is possible that, without departing from the scope of this invention, the closure would be used in situations where the end of the bag would not be wrapped around the wedge member and therefore the dimensional differences would preferably be less than two plies of the material. In addition, it is possible that the wedge member could be made up of two or more depending blades and that the seat member could have a plurality of troughs to accommodate each blade if desired.

Preferably the wedge and seat members are made of relatively rigid but slightly resilient plastic material. This permits the hinge portion 50 of the wedge member to yield slightly when the pintle 44 is inserted therein. Also, it affords a hingelike connection to the latch finger 52 as it cams past the latch element 46 when the wedge member is moved into engagement with the seat member.

The slightly arcuate or non-linear configuration in plan of the closure member further serves to assist in maintaining the closure member in sealing relation with the pouch 20. ln effect, the open end of the pouch is wrapped around the blade of the wedge member in two opposing planes, to insure that the closure member will not accidentally slip off of the end of the pouch.

ln operation, to seal the open end 20c of the pouch 10, the lower portion is turned upon itself around the blade-like body 48 of wedge member 40 when the wedge member is in the open position as shown in FIGURE 5. Wedge member 40 is then swung about the pivotal connection 44-50 towards the seat member 38. As the wedge forces the pouch into the trough, the front and back panels 18 and 19 will be squeezed tightly together, wrapped about the wedge as seen in FIGURE 4. Also, the cam surface 52a will cause the latch finger 52 to spring slightly outwardly as seen in FIGURE 8 until the shoulder 52b is opposite the latch element 46, at which time the shoulder 52b will snap under element 46 to hold the wedge member 40 in the seat member 38, tightly squeezing panels I8 and 19 of the pouch together in a fashion which will prevent any discharge out the open bottom.

When it is desired to empty discharge from the pouch, such as when the user has appropriate toilet facilities available, all that need be done is to pull latch finger 52 outwardly from its engagement with latch element 46 and withdrawn wedge member 40 from seat member 38, generally to a position shown in FIGURE 5. Then the bottom portion of the pouch may be unfolded and discharge may drop through the open end 20c. The pouch may again be resealed in the manner previously described and closed until such time as it is necessary or desirable to drain the same into appropriate toilet facilities or the like.

lclaim:

1. In combination with a post surgical drainage pouch of bag-like configuration with a normally open end and means for connection to the body of a patient, a closure member for selective opening and closing of the normally open lower end to control discharge including a wedge member having a generally thin, elongate blade-like body with a top and bottom and opposite ends and being generally arcuate in plan, a hinge element at one end thereof; a substantially mating generally narrow U-shaped trough member having an open top, a closed bottom in opposite ends and also being generally arcuate in plan, with a hinge element at one end operably connected to the wedge member hinge element for pivotally mounting the wedge and trough members together for movement relative to each other, whereby the open end of bag-like drainage pouches may be sealed by wrapping the same about the bladelike wedge member and pivoting the wedge member relative to the trough member to seat the wedge member in the trough with portions of the bag squeezed therein.

2. The closure member of claim 1 wherein the wedge member is provided with a resilient latch element on the other end and the trough member has a latch element receiving portion on its other end for fastening the wedge and trough member together against unintended reverse movement.

3. The closure member of claim 1 wherein the trough member has a bottom portion spanning closely adjacent front and rear walls, the interior of said front and rear walls being substantially parallel in section.

e closure member of claim 3 wherein the wedge member has front and rear faces which are substantially parallel in section and in mating relation to the walls of the trough member. 

